Mike Norvell enters the 2026 season on one of the hottest seats in the country. But that hasn't wavered the confidence of the seventh-year head coach of Florida State football, who said this is "as good as I've felt in a few years" entering a season. It's a bold assertion for Norvell, who's compiled a 7-17 record over the last two seasons. With 62 new players and six new coaches on staff, the Seminoles have gone under the most significant overhaul under Norvell, and, at least for now, he believes that will lead to a better season.
There is, however, only one way to find that out, and that is on the field. And Norvell wasn't shy in expressing his confidence in his Seminoles ahead of the season opener against New Mexico State on Aug. 29. "This year's team, I feel as good as I've felt in a few years of what I think it's going to look like. We still have to go do that. There are some positions that we know we're going to need to stay healthy. I like the depth; I like the first two-deep. But there's some positions where you might have to rely on some really young, inexperienced players if certain things happen," Norvell said. "That's where I like this group. I like the work ethic. I like some of the newcomers that have shown that they can be capable and have put themselves in a position to go into week zero, that they could be able to play and make their mark for this football team. But this is a group that I'm definitely confident in what they're going to be able to accomplish. But that's the fun of going and playing the game." It's the type of statement and confidence a coach entering what could be a career-defining season needs to express. A win over New Mexico State isn't going to win Norvell any favors, but a good performance, particularly from quarterback Ashton Daniels, and there is something to build on ahead of matchups against SMU on Labor Day and Alabama on Sep. 19.
What will be the most important thing for Norvell and the Seminoles is how the team reacts to a setback. In both 2024 and 2025, the teams weren't able to overcome roadblocks, and it resulted in seasons of 2-10 and 5-7, respectively. While Norvell didn't expect things to get that bad, he admitted some red flags emerged to him early in the season with both groups. He doesn't see those same issues with this year's team, and that's inspired his confidence. "I'd say that in every group, there's always an area of concern. I know, in 2024, what was going to happen in the moment, in the moment of truth when maybe something that didn't go well, that was a big concern. We did nothandle that very well throughout the course of a season. ... Last year, I had my concerns in certain areas," Norvell said. "The moment where the leadership — it's got to be the players, and everything's got to go — where it's not going as good as maybe you wanted it to, where are we going to be able to rise up in some of those situations? There were some times, early in the season, we had a lot of excitement, and guys answered the call when things were going well. I mean, we played at a really high level. There were times that we had some opportunities and some missed opportunities where it came down to some discipline things, some areas where we just had true missed opportunities to make the play in that moment of truth." Should the Seminoles look anything like a competitive team this season, their ability to overcome a setback will be a big reason. However, if that same trend of high, high's and low, low's continues, Norvell's belief in his team will be strained, and his seat will be ablaze. Florida State football schedule 2026 vs. New Mexico State | Aug. 29 vs. SMU* | Sept. 7 Bye at Alabama | Sept. 19 vs. Central Arkansas | Sept. 26 vs. Virginia* | Oct. 3 at Louisville* | Oct. 9 at Miami* | Oct. 17 Bye vs. Clemson* | Oct. 31 at Boston College* | Nov. 7 at Pittsburgh* | Nov. 13 vs. NC State* | Nov. 21 vs. Florida | Nov. 27 Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Why Mike Norvell believes this FSU football team can avoid another collapse